1858 Flying Eagle Cent - Small Letters / High Leaves - Opinions And Grading

I'll say EF-40.

Nice EF40. I don't see any issues.

This is very, very general advice, but varieties which are not listed in the Red Book of Coins do not usually carry a premium among collectors in general, but MAY carry a premium among collectors who specialize in a particular coin series.

This generally holds true for pre-Federal State and Colonial issues, Large Cents, Half Cents, Indian Head cents, Bust coinage, Liberty Seated coinage, and Morgan dollars just to name a few. Each of those coin series has dozens or hundreds of known varieties, but the vast majority of those varieties -- particularly those which cannot be easily discerned to the "naked eye" -- do not sell for more than "regular" versions of the same coin.

However, among specialists, such as people collecting Large Cents by Sheldon or Newcomb number, Indian Head cents by Snow number, Bust Half Dollars by Overton number, Morgan dollars by VAM number, etc. there are scarce to rare or very rare varieties that those specialists will pay substantially higher premiums for based on that scarcity.

The so-called "NC" (not collectible) Draped Bust Large Cents, which are R6-R7 or higher rarity, merit scarcely a mention in the basic Red Book, but are be worth many multiples of "price guide value" to Large Cent collectors, just by way of example -- despite the fact that for some of the NC dates, fewer than a handful of examples are known to exist.

I've got a fair few Snow varieties, and more than a fair few Newcomb varieties, but outside of Indian Head cent and Large Cent collectors, most of them would not sell for more to the "general collecting" market. I'd have to sell them to Snow and Newcomb collectors to realize any sort of a substantial premium for the scarcer ones.

Very nice. Still a variety I need for my FEC. I'd say easy VF-35, great shot at EF-40. The high leaves variety is a tough one to find but not extremely difficult. It is not a very desirable variety unless you're a snow or FEC collector. I've seen a few in lower grades but I'm waiting to pick a VF-EF example since I don't think I'll have any competition cherry-picking one. So while it is a high grade and very clean example, you'll only find a big market for this variety with people like me and other niche collectors. This is a gorgeous example!

-CH27

I've been watching this one but I expect it to go high. They have a pretty good following. It's possibly a Snow 13 but I can't really get a good look at what I need to look at. It's a one star variety, not much value over a normal fec.

You need to buy Rick Snow's books or e-series if he still sells those.

I learn from 52Raymo and RedRaider every time they post, so it's always someone learning something around here.

That pretty nicely illustrates why "buying the book" is so important, and reminds me that I also need to purchase Mr. Snow's books as well. I wonder how many collectors who don't have detailed knowledge of the series would have passed this coin over?

Blast are you gonna go for it ?

I'm just in it to flip it. If it's for your collection go for it. I'll back off.